London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

Tesco boss Philip Clarke: ‘Bigger is no longer better’

Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke today admitted the supermarket giant has an image problem which still needs to be fixed and suggested that bigger is no longer better.

He also played down revelations yesterday, according to Kantar Worldpanel, that Tesco’s market share has hit its lowest point for 10 years and stood by his decision to call a halt to the space race for opening more shops and instead focus on multichannel growth.

Speaking at the Retail Week Live conference in London, he said: “This isn’t about market share in the short or medium term. The industry is going through the most profound change at the moment.”

He added: “Retail has got an image problem. I’m proud to be a retailer, yet we’ve got to accept that bigger is no longer seen as better.

“It’s not about how big you are it’s about how good you are. We need to open up our businesses.”